I had trouble focusing on the Lonestar because Manoli walks in and he's like, totally in way better shape since last time I saw him (probably about a year ago). Lost a bunch of fat and he's buff now. Cool. Anyway, he's like "it's really middy", meaning the guitar sound I'm working. So Manoli leaves and this amp is bugging me now. I dail the mid down all the way and it's still got a blatty sort of quality. It's not a bad sound, but I'm looking for something a little leaner and this is girthy as all-get-out. I'm mostly in 15watt mode, which is two of the 4 el84s. I'm going for cleanish crunch at a decent volume and it feels like I'm starting to squash the output stage way sooner than I woulda thunk (channel volume at 2 o'clock). It sounds cool, but maybe a little too vintage for my liking. Switching to 30watt really opened it up. A few adjustments and it was doing it for me- but she was some loud, eh? I took a break and when I came back to it I was liking the lower wattage settings better than before. I really felt like I would have been stylin' if I had an eq between my guitar and the amp to dail back some of the lows hitting the front end. I'm not saying that I wanted single coils, no way that's crazy, but a slightly thinner signal coming from the guitar would have allowed me to really enjoy myself. Overdriven tone? Wow. Maybe someday I will possess such beauty.

Regarding the tube rectifier:

... maximum headroom of the SILICON DIODES when the 30 watt setting is called up and brings up the 5Y3 rectifier tube for increased dynamic character and a juicy feeling sag when either 15 or 5 watts is chosen.

I wonder if this was a significant factor in my liking the 30watt mode.

Al Gallant played through it for two sets tonight. Sounds to me like a Mesa trying to be a Vox and they kinda pull it off in a classic Mesa kinda way.Wouldn't think of kicking this amp outta the tent for munchin' on crackers.Warm, never too bright, feature full and always very pleasant.Like Scott I found anything less than the 30W mode to be lacking.